Enhanced (first draft)

Chapter 9

Trace turns away from us. He doesn't want us to see him break down, but it impossible for him to hide it. His breathing becomes heavy, and he is nearly wheezing. It comes and goes at a pace that's unsteady. He can't control himself.

I bend down to the ground, reaching for the crumpled ball of paper. As I pick it up, it feels heavy due to the gravity of what it holds. Even though it is only paper, I struggle to bring it up to eye level. If Trace can't deal with the truth that it holds, I don't know if I can. I hold the ball far away from my face as I flatten the paper out into a large sheet. It is as if it holds some toxin that I don't want to affect me.

The first thing that catches my eye on the paper is the bold word printed at the top: "Notice!" The Outside, or at least Lakeside, must be pretty primitive to have notices serve as the main communication for large scale events. We rarely ever use written correspondence, rather using our personal devices for long distance communications. Whenever there is an event that pertains to the whole Inside, we get a mass message from the Town Hall instantaneously.

My eyes scan down the notice to a title that reads: "Traitor to be executed at noon tomorrow." It is handwritten in thick, red ink. I can't help but be reminded of blood. It is fitting due to the blood that will be shed.

There is a picture of the soon-to-be victim below the caption. The thin, dark eyes stare blankly at me, almost pleading as if to be saved. My stomach drops as I examine his features. The long, wide nose and full lips paired with the dark eyes are familiar. Even though the portrait is in black and white, I can imagine the brown, unruly hair. He looks similar to Trace, unsettlingly so. The only major difference appears to be that the face of this man is more hallowed, and his is unhealthily thin.

I realize that Trace has finally turned around and ask in barely a whisper, "Is this him?"

Trace doesn't really have to answer, I can tell it in his face. The downcast, watery eyes and helpless expression on his face give it away. Still Trace is too kind to ignore my question. He nods, practically throwing his head from side to side.

I start to slowly head towards Trace. I can't stand him like this. I need to comfort him. Once he notices my advance, he turns around and runs into the town. I grab ahold of Cyrus's arm and drag him along with me as we chase after Trace. I would have though that he would be just trying to be alone for a while, but running into Lakeside makes no sense.

Trace leads us through the streets of Lakeside. We pass many small houses that can't be more than one or two rooms. Sometimes the windows are shattered, others are boarded. It doesn't look very safe where we are, and it makes me uncomfortable. Nobody seems I be out on the streets, but every so often I happen to notice eyes peering out at me through curtains over widows.

Finally we get out of what seems to be the poverty-stricken residence area. Now we are in a residence area where the wealthy seem to live. The houses appear to be more familiar to me. Some of them mirror houses back on the Inside.

Trace turns to the driveway leading to one of the houses. He tries the glass panel door, only to find it locked. Cyrus and I slow down as we reach the steps where Trace is looking around.

He roughly shoves past Cyrus. Cyrus hadn't been expecting anything so he nearly loses his balance. "That bastard..." I can barely hear Cyrus mutter underneath his breath.

Trace quickly makes his way to the flower bed right that is on the side of the house. I can already guess what he is looking for, but I know that I can't stop him. He rummaged under the few flowers until he finds what he is looking for. He pulls out a rock the size of his palm with a crazed smile on his face. He rushes back past us and stands in front of the door winding up.

"Trace, put that down! Don't do it!" Cyrus yells, rushing up the steps in desperation.

Cyrus is too late, Trace has already thrown the rock at the door, causing the glass to shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. Seemingly ignoring the fact that there are shards of glass all over, Trace walks into the house. Cyrus and I rush up to where the shattered glass litters the floor, but we don't go any farther.

A rush of footsteps pounds the floor, and within a couple seconds a starled looking man walks into the entryway. He is struggling to finish up with his tie on his suit as he enters, but when he he takes in the scene, he drops his task. A look of horror and recognition settle on his face.

"What the hell? Trace? Why are you here? There is no way that you have found your brother." The man seems to act oblivious to the fact that his door has been shattered. His eyes are only on Trace.

Trace stands tall as he faces the man. "I know the truth, Avery. Xander is here. You are going to kill him. But why didn't you tell me?"

"Why does it matter to you that we were keeping you away from Xander? If he had truly escaped and you had found him, his fate would be the same anyways. Why were you so desperate to find him? I know you didn't want him to be killed. That is why I sent you away, Trace. You would be searching for your brother evermore, hoping that he was alive while in reality we had executed him long ago. It had to be done, you know that. We were just sending you away to protect you." Avery reaches his hands out towards Trace, expecting acceptance. For some reason, I am not convinced by what he says, though. After everything Trace has told me, it just doesn't seem right that they would do this to protect Trace.

Trace doesn't seem to believe it either. He violently shakes his head, denying Avery's excuse. "No! The only reason that you sent me away to search for Xander was so that I wouldn't try to intervene and prevent his impending execution. You don't have to lie to me anymore!"

Avery's eyes widen as he listens to Trace's outburst. He seems shocked. As he just stands, trying to find the words to say, Trace turns his back towards Avery and walks back towards us. Trace seems to pay no attention to us, though. He ignores us as if we are ghosts to him.

Cyrus and I closely follow behind Trace, trying to keep in pace with him. We are eager ducklings waiting for our next task.

All of a sudden Trace whips around. His face is flushed red, making hi almost look demonic. His nostrils are widened and his eyes almost seem glazed over. He doesn't look very sane.

"What are you doing?" Trace snarls, narrowing his glare down to Cyrus.

Cyrus shifts uncomfortably. He must feel like a prey who is cornered, about to be killed.

"What do you mean?" He manages to let out. It is more of a squeak than real words.

"You knew of this the whole time, didn't you? You just let it go on, though. You don't even care for me, I don't know why I even considered you to be a friend!" Trace finishes through heavy breathing. His eyes glare back and forth between me and Cyrus. All of a sudden, Trace spits at Cyrus. A big glob of saliva lands on Cyrus's jacket. I grimace, embarrassed over Trace's new behavior.

Cyrus looks at Trace curiously for a second, before returning Trace's glare. "You little-" Cyrus starts, as Trace turns and sprints away.

Cyrus is about to follow after him and do who knows what. Instead I grab ahold of his hand. He looks back at me, his eyebrows raised.

"Let him be for a little while. This has been a rough day for him. Let him figure everything out. We can go look for him later when both of your anger has subsided."

Cyrus makes one last glance towards Trace's body disappearing down the street. His hair flying through the wind is the last thing we see. After Trace disappears, Cyrus looks back at me with heavy eyes. He lets out a deep sigh as a weight appears to be lifted off of his shoulders.

"Okay," Cyrus says.

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Okay guys! I basically have the next chapter planned out (mainly) but after that I only have the last three chapters. I think that it is a bit to soon to end this story, especially because I need to develop some character relationships a bit more before those last chapters. I will be trying to brainstorm ideas on my own, but I am curious to see if you have any suggestions or ideas of where the story should go. Let me know if you want to know more about something or if you want to see something, and I may implement that into future chapters! Just keep in mind that I know where I'm going to end up so I may not use the ideas. Thank you for reading! :)